Since immigration is a fundamental issue - more fundamental than anything on their list - you might expect them to include something, even if it was just symbolic. You might expect that especially considering that massive and illegal immigration leads to more spending and leads to more power for the Democrats and the far-left. Illegal immigration is also something that the Beltway elites and the mainstream media are on the wrong side of. And, it's an area where both groups are especially vulnerable due to their inability to present a valid argument for what they support.

So, why does the "Contract from America" say nothing about immigration despite how vital it is and how the current situation impacts what they pretend to care about? I'll leave that up to the tea partiers to try to figure out, drawing their attention to the list of sponsors, which includes FreedomWorks (run by Dick Armey), Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform, the Koch family-linked Heartland Institute, and other no doubt interesting groups. Would Koch Industries and Armey's and Norquist's sponsors have any financial interest in the choices from which the "tea party patriots" are asked to choose? See each of those links for more information to help you determine that. (Note also that another sponsor is TheNextRight).